Memories to be Erased
by jjrules14
Summary: Toshiro can to the World of the Living only to monitor it. Then he met her. He found that she was someone who saw strait through him, and she realized that he held the key to help her heal, if only she could open her heart.
1. Chapter 1

**Note:** This story does not follow Bleach plot line. The story with have events that I shall make up and few may appear that are from the series but not likely. It still involves the same idea; Hollows, Soul Reapers, and what not.

* * *

><p><strong>Zenshin Memori<strong>

"Did you hear?"

"Yeah, we got another exchange student."

"I heard he's a fugitive."

"No, he just looks like one."

I focused on my own footsteps instead of the constant drone of gossip going around at this high school. Honestly, new students aren't very rare with all of the Soul Reapers coming to this world to monitor it. They should be used to it by now. It's starting to get on my nerves.

As I walked into first period I took a seat behind Rukia, a Soul Reaper placed here to monitor like all the others. She was arguing with Ichigo, a substitute Soul Reaper, so I decide not to interfere. One thing you have to know: _Never_ get involved in a fight with those two.

So instead of talking, I observed. Rukia had a petite figure but was not one to mess with. Her eyes were a dark purple and her hair was jet black. It was a strange hair style if you ask me. She had a single bang that came from the middle of her forehead and stretched down to the bottom of her left cheek and her hair framed her face all the way down to the nape of her neck before slightly fanning out. Even with the hair she blended in perfectly in the World of the Living.

Ichigo was something else. His bright orange hair got him into many fights when he was younger and his brown eyes scared off almost anyone. Of course I wasn't one to talk about either of those comments.

My hair was like, as some say, the suns rays. A beautiful yellow color that had natural highlights, something you rarely see here. I never thought of it that way. To me it was just blonde hair that was easy to see when it was greasy. My eyes, like Ichigo's, scared people off. They were sky blue some moments and others they were a shinny silver. It all depended on my mood. The worst part about them was that when ever I got mad, not like "I hate you," mad but like "I'll slowly rip you apart limb from limb, listening to your cries of pain laughing," type of mad. My eyes turned a dark purple and my pupils turned into ovals that resembled a cats. Oh, and another thing. My incisors were sharp like a wolves. I must have gotten so defective DNA or something. Because of those two things people usually steered clear and caused me to be alone most of my life.

I turned to Tatsuki instead. Her short black and and onyx eyes made her seem tough like me. Of course she was a black belt so, you can see why people are scared from her.

She was talking to Orihime, who was twirling her muted, long orange hair around her finger. Her brown eyes closed as she laughed at what ever Tatsuki was saying. Orihime was one of the few people in this school that actually knew about Soul Reapers.

I walked up to the two of them and asked politely, "May I borrow Orihime for a minute?" Tatsuki looked confused but nodded. I pulled Orihime away from her to the back of the class from where it would be hard to hear us.

"Do you know if the new kid is from the Soul Society?" I asked in a low voice.

She looked around and nodded. "Yes, and he's important too. Ichigo said there sending him so that instead of a bunch of lesser Soul Reapers they can just send one... captain, I think."

I gasped. They were sending a captain? "Do you know who?" I pushed, hoping that she might know.

She shook her head from side to side, her star clips sparkling in the light. "You could ask Rukia, though. She probably knows."

I nodded and with a "Thank you," I left to see Rukia.

Fortunately she had stopped arguing and taken her usual seat next to Ichigo. "Rukia? Do you know who's the new Soul Reaper coming?" I questioned sitting on the desk behind her.

She was about to say something when the class was called to order. I sighed and took my seat in the back corner of the class by the window, the chair next to me empty; I need my solitude.

"Alright class," the teacher began. "We have a new student. Please come in."

The door opened and everyone leaned forward in anticipation to see his face. The boy who opened the door was not who I expected. Apparently Ichigo and Rukia were the same.

He had silver hair that stuck up and faced the back of his his head with bangs on the left side. I was jealous of his eyes. They were a bright turquoise that reminded my of the ocean, they were beautiful. If I remember correctly, he was Hitsugaya Toshiro.

But he was different from the pictures Rukia and Ichigo had shown me. In those pictures he looked like he belonged in grade school but now he was tall and lean. Not as tall as Ichigo who was 5'9 but close. He looked like a high school student.

"Please introduce yourself," the teacher commanded.

Hitsugaya's eyes skimmed the class, his gaze lingering on Ichigo and Rukia, then stared straight ahead. "Hitsugaya Toshiro," he said bluntly.

I could see why people thought he was a delinquent. He had a stern expression on his face, yet he seemed calm. Like he wasn't even trying to make his gaze make you feel small and useless.

The teacher gave a nervous laugh due to his bluntness. "Okay then. Lets see you can sit next to..." she mumbled as she eyed the class. Her eyes landed on the seat next to me and then rolled over to where I sat. She smirked.

_Oh, crap_, I thought. Riigghht, yeah. This teacher doesn't like me much, the reason why I will not tell. Lets just say it was a embarrassing experience for her.

I began to hastily shake my head and wave my hand in front of my face, begging her not to sit him next to me.

In return of my silent pleases she grew a devious grin. Hitsugaya caught this exchange between us and raised a delicate eyebrow. I ignore it and placed my hands together in a begging fashion.

"Toshiro you may sit next to Zenshin Memori. Memori please raise your hand."

I slammed my head onto the desk and weakly rose my hand in the air. I heard the snickers of Ichigo and others that knew of the Soul Reapers. They all knew that I found Soul Reapers extremely cocky. With a huff, I raised my head and crossed my arms stubbornly.

I watched with narrowed eyes as Hitsugaya walked swiftly threw the maze of desks to the one next to me. While he was sitting down our eyes connected and I felt as if I could stare into them all day, they made my blood run warm and I felt my heart expand at the beauty of them. Not wanting to be caught staring, I had to force myself to look away.

Class began like normal but his presence bothered me. He was like a fly that you couldn't swat away. I kept biting my lip, a old habit, and bouncing my leg, waiting for the bell to ring.

Half way through class I smelt it. A Hollow. Their smell was so putrid that my nose always wrinkled in disgust. It was like a mix of spoiled milk and a rotten egg and for the first time I thanked Kami for Hollows. Now I could get away from Hitsugaya and his icy gaze.

My hand instantly shot up. "May I use the restroom?" I asked with as much urgency in my voice that I could muster up. I began to fidget in my seat acting like I was about to explode. The teacher sighed and nodded.

I bowed and rushed out of the room. I gripped my necklace and felt my soul be tugged away from my body. In soul form I wore a dark purple top that had brown wrapping that went from beneath my breast to the center abdomen. Continuing from that were black flowing pants, a style that I always had when I left my body.

I dragged my lifeless body to a spot where it wasn't likely to be found. When I was on my way down the hall I heard a door close and a gasp.

I turned on my heel to see Hitsugaya, already in Soul Reaper form with his gigai standing beside him. He was staring at me in shock, guess no one told him I could do this. I scoffed and continued running, tracking the Hollow with my nose.

Before I could exit the school Hitsugaya appeared in front of me, his hand on his sword, ready to draw. "Are you a Soul Reaper?" he asked me. Kami, was he pissing me off.

He wouldn't let me get around him so I said pointedly, "Look, now's not the time. The Hollow is headed towards a daycare." He seemed shocked by what I had said so I took the advantage to get around him. I rushed towards the Hollow.

Once I arrived I took in the Hollows appearance. It was a small one. As usual it had the hole in its chest and was a disgusting shade of black with a white mask on its face.

In one fluid movement I held my arms straight our and watched as my two hounds formed from the bracelets on both of my wrists. All three of us charged and quickly took down the minor Hollow with a quick blast straight through it's mask.

I patted both Nyla's soft black fur and Ace's scruffy white fur as a job-well-done gift. They were rather big so I had to stand on my toes to even reach their heads.

"What are you?"

My head instantly shot from my dogs to in front of me. Big surprise, Hitsugaya was standing there in all his stupid ass glory. I rolled my eyes. "Sheesh! What's with all the questions?"

He didn't move and his face remained impassive. "Answer the question," he commanded. His voice was smooth, he speech perfect.

"Fine, Mr. Pushy. I am _not _a Soul Reaper. I'm, what Rukia calls, a Divide. You know, people who are born with certain abilities and what not. I happen to have powers that involve animals but I still stand more in the wolf side than anything else," I explained. He remained silent, as if he wanted me to say more. "I work with Nyla," I motioned to the large white wolf at my side, "and Ace," I finished with a pat on Ace's shoulder. "If you didn't notice in class I have a bracelet on each wrist. They each have a wolf's fang on them which I use to summon Nyla and Ace. The necklace I wear allows me to leave my body."

He nodded taking in my information. I smirked. "My turn for questions," I continued without giving him a chance to argue. "Why did you follow me? Didn't you know when you saw me that I could kill hollows?"

He held up two fingers and began to speak, "There are two reasons why I followed. The first because I didn't know how powerful you are. The second is because the teacher told me to follow you because she said that I have all of my classes with you. She said you'd be showing me around."

I face-palmed. "Why does the teacher hate me so?" I moaned and began to stomp back to the school.

_What's wrong with showing me around?_, I heard him think.

"No, it's not you in general. I just find Soul Reapers cocky and most of them think they're higher that others who aren't Soul Reapers," I answered his thoughts.

"How did you know- ,"

I cut him off. "Another thing that comes from being a Animal Divide. How do you think wolves communicate in a pack?" I questioned.

"I never really thought about that," he mumbled, suddenly interested in the rocks on the ground.

I walked past him as I explained, "Most think its by growls and what not when it's actually thoughts. They can hear each others thoughts. I can too. I hear humans, soul's, and Soul Reaper's thoughts although some can block me from their minds."

I stopped walking and turned to face him. "Coming? _Captain Hitsugaya._"

"Uh, yeah," he said following.

We reached the school and I entered my body as well as Hitsugaya. We went ahead and got our books for our next class seeing as there was only five minuets left. We walked in silence to second period.

"Can I ask you one more thing?" I spoke looking straight forward, not bothering to look at him while I walked.

He focused his eyes on me and nodded. "The pictures I saw of you. You were so young you probably couldn't even fit in with the middle-schoolers. Now you're taller than I am. How?"

He sighed. "I knew someone would ask me that but I was hoping it could be avoided," he looked up at the ceiling as if thinking. "Captain Yamamoto allowed me to gain a few years to my appearance so I could fit in with the high school students because most of the Soul Reapers are in this grade."

"Oh... that makes sense," was all I said until we were enveloped in silence again. He was so antisocial. It was almost worse than a hyperactive person.

This was going to be a _long_ day.

* * *

><p><strong>Hitsugaya Toshiro<strong>

She wasn't at all what I expected. The Soul Reapers in the Soul Society told me that there was a girl here that had strange powers but I didn't think she'd be like _that_. Also, they forgot to mention the fact the she wasn't exactly ugly. Her looks surprised me so much that I began to feel awkward talking to her.

Plus, her powers amazed me. Not that I thought she could beat me but they were still amazing. And that Hollow wasn't even a powerful one. It wasn't necessary for her to use all her power and it bothers me knowing that she still has more secrets up her sleeve.

She hates Soul Reapers too. I wasn't expecting that. She seemed like good friends with Ichigo and Rukia so you'd think that she would like them a bit more.

I thought about her up until lunch when I ate with Ichigo and his friends. Ichigo wasn't that bad and neither was Chad, but the other two were insane. I'm pretty sure one of them is gay. He kept asking me questions like where I'm from and if I was dating someone. That received him a kick in the face.

Then I realized something. "Oye Ichigo," I called. He looked up from his sandwich. I lowered my voice to a whisper, "Since I'll be here a while I need a place to stay. Do you think I could stay..." I trailed of seeing him shake his head.

"Sorry Toshiro. I already have Rukia staying with me. If I get another person to live with me my family might get suspicious," Ichigo said with a thoughtful frown on his face. "Why don't you get an apartment or something?"

I grimaced, "Matsumoto used up all of the money we were allowed so I was told to share a home with one of you." I felt a frown etch itself into my face as I thought about that woman.

"Oh," Ichigo grew thoughtful again. "You should ask Memori."

I nearly spat out my drink. "What? Why her? Isn't there someone else? Preferably someone of the male gender?"

"Not that I can think of. You need someone who knows about the whole Soul Reaper thing so that narrows it down. Most of the guys have family so that won't work unless you want to stay with Uryu." I cringed at the thought. It would be awkward sharing with a Quincy. "So that leaves Inoue and Mori. Inoue is a super girly-girl so it would be uncomfortable staying with her and she eats things that couldn't be good for your stomach. While Mori, on the other hand, is a major tomboy, lives alone, and lives in a pretty big place," Ichigo explained seriously. Mori? Since when was Ichigo one for nicknames?

"Well, when you put it that way," I muttered placing my hand on my chin. "Fine. I'll go ask her." I stood up to leave when Ichigo grabbed my elbow.

His face was dead serious. In a dark tone he said, "Just don't bring up her family. She should be by the cherry blossom trees. Good luck," he smirked, "You'll need it."

Great. I sighed for the tenth time today and descended from the roof. I ran across the courtyard and sure enough, there she was. Eating her lunch all alone with her sunny locks flowing in the wind.

I sucked in a big breath, gathering my pride and walked up to her. "Oye!" I called strolling towards her.

She looked up from the book she was previously reading and scowled. "Hm?"

I stood in front of her and watched as her eyes skimmed me, looking up and down. "I, uh," I inwardly cursed myself. Did I just _stutter_?

She raised a perfectly sculpted eyebrow, "Yes?"

Once again, I sighed. "Look. I need a place to stay and since Ichigo can't have another person I was wondering if I could stay with you."

* * *

><p><strong>Zenshin Memori<strong>

What? Did he just ask to stay with me? I pondered the pros and cons of this situation. Hot guy staying in the same house as me. Probably got abs of a god and has the face of an angel... I did not just think that. He's a Soul Reaper for crying out loud! Curse you frickin' hormones.

He shifted his weight to his left foot, waiting for me to answer.

_But it would help him, _I thought.

My shoulders slouched in defeat. "Fine," I grumbled. Gosh, why am I so weak when it comes to helping people.

His eyes widened in shock but he quickly composed himself. "Thank you," he said bowing slightly.

I scoffed at this. "A captain, bowing to me. I feel so honored," I joked. "Oh but I do have a few conditions and a warning. Which would you prefer first?"

"The warning," he stated simply as he sat down in front of me.

The warning. How the hell should I put it? _Ya, every night I scream from a ever occurring nightmare that proves how weak I am._ Yeah! That'll be sure leave a good impression.

Toshiro seem to notice my hesitation because he asked, "Is there something wrong?"

I laughed and scratched the back of my head. "Er, no. I'm just trying to find a way to put the warning so I don't sound like a complete sissy," I told him.

A small smile appeared on his face. "I find it hard for anyone to think of you as a sissy," he said placing his hands on his knees as he leaned forward.

I leaned back against the tree and watched at the rosy petals fluttered down from the branches. "I guess so. Well, I'll put it simply. I have these dreams, nightmares, that make me scream. Almost every night I have them and it's the same one. I guess it'd have to be, seeing that it's a memory, but the effects never change. So if you're a light sleeper you probably won't get a lot of sleep."

Out of the corner of my eye I glanced at him. His face was composed but his eyes betrayed his emotions. Shock... shock and pity. I hated that look.

Before he could say something I spoke, "The conditions are that you must help me pay the rent on the place and other necessities. You also need to participate in buying presents for Christmas," I smiled at the thought. It would be nice to have someone else with me for Christmas again. For ten years I've been alone on that day.

I turned my head to look directly at him. "Do you accept these conditions?"

He nodded. "I'm not some freeloader. I'm a captain. I'll pull my weight," he stated.

I beamed at him. "Okay then. Meet me in the front parking lot at four and I'll take you to my house."

I stood up and brushed myself off before offering him a hand. But of course he being a captain and all, he rejected it. Cocky brat.

_What room will he sleep in_, I thought. _He could sleep with- No! Bad thoughts! Bad thoughts!_

I clasped my hands onto my head and began to shake it back and forth to remove the unwanted thoughts. Why was he so handsome! Just my luck.

I felt a hand grab onto my wrist so I momentarily stopped shaking to my head to glare at the person. Hitsugaya was looking at me with a hint of irritation in his eyes.

"Quit that. People are beginning to stare," he growled.

And sure enough when I looked around several people were staring at me like I was mental. "What are you looking at?" I snapped immediately make most turn away in fear.

One of the bitchy girls spoke up, "Oh no, are you finally loosing it. You probably can't believe that some guy, even someone like Toshiro is actually talking to you. But don't get your hopes up. Even he's out of your league." She sneered and I felt the urge to snap that scrawny little spine of hers.

I kept myself calm when I said, "Back off bitch before I ram that ugly face of yours into the tree until your teeth fall out."

She just laughed. "You said that wrong. It's I'll ram that _pretty_ little face of yours, dumbass." I flet my eyebrow twitch at how stupid she was.

It was my turn to laugh. "To any other person I would have said that but if I said that to you I'd be lying." I smirked as I saw her body start to tremble.

"You ugly little slut! I don't even see why anyone would talk to you. Probably out of pity," she said crossing her arms over her chest.

I put my hands on my hips and leaned forward, "At least I don't have to have my daddy pay them to hang out with me." I heard my voice waver a bit at the mention of the parental figure but somehow managed to keep my face composed.

She let out a screech as she moved her hand to hit me. When her hand was about to connect with my cheek I knelt down and jumped over her head. She screamed in rage and turned to punch me in the face but stopped when she saw I was no longer there.

"If you trying to impress Hitsugaya then it not working. Right now you just look like your having a spaz attack," I mocked.

She went in for another hit which I would have dodged if I hadn't see movement to my left. It was a flash of something white, and then it was gone. Momentarily distracted, I noticed her fist just inches away from my face. I closed my eyes and prepared for the hit... but it never came.

I cracked one of my eyes and a saw white. What? I opened my eyes all the way.

"Hitsugaya?" I whispered. I couldn't see what had happened but I was guessing he had caught her fist.

His voice was deadly, every word dripping with venom, "No one but a select few may call me by my first name."

I felt my heart fall. I had actually thought he saved me because I could have been hurt, but no. He stopped her fist so he could tell her not to use his first name.

The girl overcame her shock and grew a flirtatious smile. "Am I one of those select few," she said fluttering her eyelashes.

I walked out from behind Hitsugaya to see his expression. He was actually grimacing at her comment. "No," he said slowly.

"Fine," she huffed. She peered at me. "At least Zenshin can't use your first name."

For some reason, that comment hurt. I was about to retort but Hitsugaya beat me to it. "I don't know what your talking about. She can call me my first name."

With that he pulled me away to our lockers. It was silent and I was thankful for that. It gave me time to compose myself. He said I could use his first name. My mood darkened when I realized that he probably just said that to make that girl feel bad.

Once I shook the hurt away from my heart I spoke. "Thank you, Hitsugaya."

He looked at me from the corner of his eye. "Zenshin, didn't I say you may call me by my first name?"

I gasped and looked at him. "I thought you just said that to get that girl pissed," I said.

Not looking at me he said, "That was part of it but you're letting me stay at your house. That seems like a good enough reason for you to be able to call me by my first name."

I smiled to myself and held my hands behind my back. "Then you can call me Memori, or Mori, which ever you prefer. Even though we just met I consider you my friend for saving me and all of my friends call me by my first name," I said giving him a warm smile.

Then the bell rang signaling we should get to class.

It didn't bother me as much to sit next to him after the talk we had. He still was incredibly antisocial but at least we made some progress. At 3:00 he went to the principles office to get his books while I went home to get us some transportation.

When I arrived back at the school and pulled into the parking lot he was leaning against the wall pressing buttons on his phone.

"Toshiro!" I called from my parking space. A small smile found it's way onto my face at the was his name rolled of my tongue. His head lifted at the sound of my voice, his turquoise eyes penetrating mine.

I motioned for him to come towards me and was pretty much jumping from excitement. Once he reached me he eyed the tarp next to me and spoke, "What could possibly be so exciting that you feel the need to act like a four year old."

I make a shooing gesture with my hand, "Ya, ya. I act like a four year old a lot. Look what's under this."

I yanked the tarp off to reveal two motorcycles, a red one and a black one. His eyes widened at the sight of them. I leaned on the red one and grinned. "You do know how to drive one of these, right?"

He look up from the bikes to me. "Don't you need, like, a license or something to drive?"

"Only if you get caught," I replied slyly. I tossed him a set of keys and pulled mine out of my pocket. "These bikes are special. I got them from Urahara. We can apply our powers to these bike while driving so we can flash-step and other cool stuff. I'm pretty sure we can become invisible too but I think we have to be in Soul Reaper form for that." I said poking the bike.

"So, shall we?" I said as I jumped on my bike.

* * *

><p><strong>Hitsugaya Toshiro<strong>

As soon as she was on the bike she sped off leaving me in the dust.

Hastily I hopped on the bike and jammed the key into ignition. The engine roared to life and I raced down the street to catch up to Memori.

I knew that at the rate I was going it would be hard so I decided to see if what she said was true. In a second I was right behind her rather that a few yards. She looked over her shoulder and smiled when she saw me. Her eyes had a evil glint in them and as she reared and sped up, I listened to her laugh like she was having the time of her life.

I rolled my eyes in an annoyed gesture but I have to admit, this was cool. I flashed right next to her and we began to race. Swerving through traffic, flashing through red lights, never once stopping.

After about ten minuets a truck pulled out in front of us. Memori effortlessly slid right under the truck and continued on the other side. I, on the other hand, used a car as a ramp and jumped right over the vehicle and landed right next to her.

"Show off!" I heard her yell over the roar of traffic.

In response I revved my engine and raced past her. In seconds she appeared next to me and took a sharp right. I copied her and I found myself riding into the a driveway of a two story house.

Memori hopped off her bike and pulled it into the garage. I moved mine into the space next to hers and watched as she closed the garage door.

I followed her to the front door when she turned around. When I looked her in the eye, I didn't see the blue that I had seen before. Her eyes were a silver color that seemed to shine. I looked down so I wouldn't embarrass myself by staring. She smiled and unlocked the door.

The house wasn't at all what I was expecting. It had a huge flat screen T.V. with a couch in the shape of a C. The kitchen was huge and was full of cooking supplies. And most of the rest of the place was high tech and modern.

I would have been able to see more but the lights dimmed and a disco ball appeared on the ceiling with slow music. Now _that_, I wasn't expecting.

I looked at Memori and raised an eyebrow. She was staring at the disco ball lost in thought. When she felt my gaze on her she looked at me and grew an expression of pure horror. "Oh! You think- no! I- I didn't even know I had a disco ball!" she stuttered out, waving her hands in front of her with her eyes close shut.

I rolled my eyes and was about to retort when a huffing sound was heard. I followed the direction of the noise to a closet near the back of the room. When I opened the door I saw two small black and white dogs surrounding a stereo machine.

Memori walked up behind me and peered over my shoulder. "Nyla! Ace! Were you spying on me at school again!" she screamed in my ear.

I winced and pulled away from the two small puppies. "You know I need to hear right?"

She stopped her yelling and turned to look at me. She scratched the back of her head and said, "Hehe, sorry." Then she turned back to her dogs and began to chase them around the house, cursing at at them.

I ignored them and strolled into the kitchen to browse her selection of food. Most of the stuff in the refrigerator was recognizable but a few this were foreign to me. One of them was a cylinder-like object that was red and had the word "Coca-Cola" on it.

I pulled it out and examined it. On what looked like the top had oval object with a hole at the top of it. Curious I pulled it up and heard a snapping type of noise. I stopped but continued when the noise didn't appear again. When I had oval thing half way up it stopped like something was blocking it. I pulled harder until I felt it easy to pull again. That's when I noticed a hole that was connected to the oval thing. Inside the can was a brown liquid from what I could see.

With curiosity getting the better of me I took a sip. When the liquid reached the tip of my tongue I spit it out and placed the can down on the counter.

Laughter was heard from behind me and I knew Memori was having a difficult time breathing due to the gasps for air. I stalking up to her crumpled form and picked her up by her shirt, lifting her off the ground.

"What was that liquid!" I yelled at her while she just kept laughing. "Why did that fizzle on contact of my tongue?" I grew aggravated when she didn't stop laughing. I set her back down on the floor where she clutched her sides from her racks of giggles.

When she finally calmed down to speak she gasped, "There's nothing wrong with it. It's called Coke, perfectly drinkable."

To prove her point she picked up the drink and took two huge sips. With a content sigh she put it back down on the counter and pushed it over towards me. "See nothing wrong. It's actually good. Try it."

I looked down at the Coke and cautiously picked it up. I put the cold metal to my lips and when the fizzy Coke hit my mouth I continued to drink. She was right, it did taste good. I held the can up to my face and after looking for anything suspicious I took another sip.

I saw Memori grinning at me like an idiot and turned away from her. "Shut up," I mumbled taking another sip.

She laughed again and the sound of it made my ears ring. It was more beautiful that any bell I had ever heard. I found myself smiling at the pleasant sound.

When she stopped she spoke, "I have to go make a phone call really quick to hook you up with a job. Don't drink all of the Cokes while I'm gone." She began walking away, laughing at her own joke.

After she left I leaned against the refrigerator and sipped my coke. I heard a whimper come from the door and when I looked at the base of the threshold I saw Ace and Nyla hogtied, with their tails moving like a inchworm to help push them forward. They looked at me with blue pleading eyes and muttered a strangled whimper.

My shoulders slouched forward as I bent down to them and untied the ropes around there feet. With an excited yip they jumped at me and began to barraged me with licks. Annoyed by the action I picked them up by the scruff on their neck and held them at arms length.

"If you ever do the disco ball thing or the licking thing again I will leave you hogtied _and_ in a closet," I threatened.

_Yes, Captain Hitsugaya_, I heard in my head.

I looked at the two dogs in shock and remembered what Memori had said about using thought to communicate. I guess they can do that with everyone.

_Bingo!_ thought the more feminine voice in my head.

"Toshiro! A Hollow! Oh, hehe. Nothing Boss. Thank you for giving him the job. Bye!"

_Hollow, _I thought._ But my phone never- _

At that moment my phone buzzed in my pocket and when I opened it a red flashing dot was show in an area not to far from her house.

"How did you -" I began

"No time! I'll explain later!" she exclaimed, grabbing my hand and pulling me out the door.

I quickly popped a soul candy into my mouth and let my artificial soul take over my body. I pulled out my phone to help track the Hollow but I realized I didn't need it. Memori seemed to know exactly where the Hollow was, even without a phone like mine. So I shut my phone and followed her to the source.

While running I saw her use a technique that I saw this morning. She held her arms out and I noticed the two bracelets she had mentioned. On one a white-yellow glow formed around it and on the other the glow was a dark purple that could almost be black. The glows spiraled away from the bracelets and landed on both sides of her. The glow slowly faded to reveal the two large dogs I'd seen before. One jet black and one pure white, both reaching over my height. When I looked back to her bracelets the two canines, one on each, were no longer there.

She hopped up onto Nyla, the black one, and looked back at me. I gasped when I saw her eyes. Her pupils had turned into slits and her irises had turned a unsettling white while the whites of her eyes had turned as black as night.

"You can ride on Ace if you want," she stated, looking forward again.

"Uh, hai," I muttered still in a state of shock. I jumped onto Ace and quickly adjusted to riding on him, finding it a lot easier than running. Eventually we reached a clearing and there was a Hollow, or maybe even a Menos, but all that mattered was that it was big.

I put my hand onto Hyorimaru, ready to pull him out but stopped when Memori held a hand out signaling to stop. "What's wrong?" I asked, looking around for any signs of other threats.

She looked at me with those eyes and smiled, showing sharp incisors similar to a canines. "Nothing. Earlier today in your thoughts you wanted to see my powers. Well let me show you," she spoke with a devious grin. Then she looked to Nyla and Ace, "You guys stay out of this to. Don't want him thinking that I can't fight without you."

She paused as if listening. After a second she blurted out, "Yes I can! Now shut up!"

I looked down at Ace. "Talking to you?" I asked.

_If I said no would you think she was crazy?_, Ace's voice rang. I guess that was a yes.

I let my eye trail up to where Memori had landed. She casually walked up to the Menos and stood in front of it. She looked calm seeing that she probably only reached the Menos's ankle.

She held her hands out straight and touched both of her index fingers together and both of her thumbs so that it formed a shape similar to a teardrop. A dark energy began pooling into the space between her hands till it formed a light purple orb.

"Hounds of Pride! I release!" she yelled. The beam shot from her hands and formed a gigantic pack of wolves, all heading straight for the Menos's mask. At the contact of the mask a huge dusk cloud formed and a loud boom sounded through the clearing. When the dust cleared a huge hole was in the Menos's mask, you could even see the blue of the sky through it.

It howled in rage and started to form a cero in its mouth. I was about to jump off Ace to Memori when Aces body rumbled with a growl. I looked to Ace's head and saw him shaking it.

"But she could be hurt!" I objected.

_We've been with Mori since she was born, Hitsugaya. We know her better than anyone so trust us that we know when she'll need help_, Nyla said sternly in my head. Her voice reminded me of a mother's when she's scolding her child.

I looked at her in disbelief but nodded and lowered my hand from Hyorimaru's hilt. I moved my gaze back on to Memori to see her in a different position. She had her thumbs wrapped around each other so it looked like a butterfly, but then she overlapped her fingers so that her hands made a triangle.

"Felines of Stealth! I release!" came another one of her incantations. Instead of wolves forming though, it was a yellow lion that burst from her palms.

When the cero was fired it was swallowed up the the lion which continued on to the Menos. Another dust cloud formed and the Menos's arm collapsed to the ground.

"You just won't die will you?" she said with a smirk. She cracked her knuckles and chuckled, "Guess I'll have to get my hands dirty." She flash stepped onto it's leg and continued up its body until she reached it's head.

She jumped away and landed in the air right before it's face. "How can she do that? Some Soul Reapers who've trained for years can't even do that!" I remarked jerking my head to Nyla then to Ace.

Nyla sighed, _Memori didn't have that much friends so instead of playing with other kids, she spent her time training. She had the drive to get powerful to protect the ones she loved. Plus her __spiritual pressure is incredible. It shouldn't be hard for someone like her to achieve that._

I looked back up to Memori in amazement. She was some girl wasn't she.

_Now shhhh!_, Ace hushed. _This is the best part._

I resisted the urge to stick out my tongue and watched. Memori began to gather energy into her hand and arm till the energy formed a spear out of her arm. She pulled her elbow back and the energy flared, then she leaped forward and slammed the spear into the center of the Menos's forehead. The mask it wore shattered and it's body disintegrated into nothing.

She slowly descended to the ground and I nearly fell off Ace from his sudden lurch towards her. When we got closer I noticed that she was panting but had not a spot on her. "So... How'd I do?" she asked between breaths.

I crossed my arms and look away, "You were okay."

I peeked from the corner of my eye and saw her face drop and disappointment cloud her eyes. I felt bad for not giving her credit for taking down a Menos and I was about to say something when she laughed, "Well then. I guess I still need practice."

I looked back at her and studied her face. I could tell she was still disappointed and yet she was laughing. Why?

Ace spoke softly in my mind, _Mori doesn't like pity so she hides her grief with smiles and laughs. Usually people believe her and that's she's happy, but your one of the first to see through her poker face._

_Hides her grief? How much grief can she have?_, I asked Ace while I watched Memori and Nyla chat.

Ace shook his head and closed his eyes. When he opened them they held such concern that surpassed any mother you know. _Far more than you could possible imagine. Nyla and I try to mend her but even we can't heal the part of her heart that is missing. We both find it too much for Mori, physically and emotionally, to take. Sometimes when you look at her, she looks so fragile that if you __hugged her too hard she'd break._

Ace's voice was sorrowful and his blue eyes seemed to become watery at the though of his precious Mori breaking and not being able to do anything about it.


	2. Chapter 2

**Zenshin Memori**

Toshiro stayed quiet the entire way home and I have no doubt that Ace told him something. I ignored it though, but it was unnerving. Every time I looked at him he looked so deep in thought that I couldn't help but keep quiet.

It was a relief when we arrived back at my house so I could use the excuse of taking a shower to get away from him. Plus, I did smell pretty jank from all of that fighting.

I gave a sigh when I stepped into the hot water. It poured over my body and relaxed my tense muscles. I felt all of my stress wash away with the dirt and sweat.

I was about to begin my whole 'Singing in the Shower' routine when I heard to door open. I paused mid breathe and exhaled. I remained quiet listening for any signs of someone in my bathroom as I washed my hair. After I didn't hear anything for about a minuet I gather another breathe to sing when a voice chimed up.

"I need to ask you something," I heard.

I froze once again and my eyes shot right open, an effective way to get shampoo in your eyes. "Ow! Ow! OW! It burns!" I screamed washing my eyes with the water and rubbing them rapidly.

I angrily popped my head out of the shower curtains to glare at Toshiro. "What the hell are you doing in here!" I yelled at the boy sitting on the counter top to the sink.

He lazily looked at me and muttered out, "I already said I had to ask you something."

I felt a vein pop in my forehead. "Why couldn't you wait til I was out of the shower and not completely naked?" I said agitatedly.

He simply put his hands behind his head and leaned into the wall. "I'm tired and I had to ask you a few things before I forgot. Your behind a shower curtain so it's not like I can see anything."

I ground my teeth together and bit back a comment. I took a deep breath to calm myself. I pulled my head back from the curtain to place it under the warm water. "Fine. Now what did you want to ask?" I said as I washed my hair.

In response is hand popped in from behind the curtain holding a eggshell colored tube. "What is this?" he asked as he pulled it out of my line of sight.

I burst out into fits of laughter unable to stop. "Ha ha, you've never seen one of these before?" I managed to choke out between laughs.

"Should I have?" he asked puzzled.

"Well maybe not but I can bet Ichigo knows what it is," I replied huffing from the laughter that still shook my body.

"Stop playing games," he snapped. "What is it?"

"Okay, okay. It's a tampon," I said slyly, giggling to myself.

The response I heard a a scream and a crash. "Do you have those sitting on top of _every_ counter?" he asked irritatedly.

"Oh, so you do know what they are. And no, just I'm mine, which your not even suppose to be in I might add."

I smirked when I heard him scoff, "Of course I know what they are. My lieutenant is a woman. I've just never seen one."

I laughed again, "Good. For a second I thought I was going to have to give you the puberty talk." His only response was a huff and the sound of him shifting his weight.

"Is that what you wanted to ask me or do you have some more questions?" I asked as I added conditioner to my hair.

"No, I have more questions," Toshiro stated, sounding a bit sad. I paused and allowed him to continue. "I was talking to Ace while you were fighting and he said he knew you since birth. Did he mean that he was with your family when you were born?"

When I didn't answer he added hastily, "You don't have to answer if you don't want to."

I shook my head back and forth even though I knew he couldn't see me. "No! It's just... it's not even all to clear with me."

"W-what do you mean?" Toshiro asked surprised.

I gave an awkward laugh. "You see, when I was born, I had these sharp incisors, just like the ones I have now. It worried the doctors that they were so sharp so they rushed me away from my mother to be checked. When I came back I had these two bracelets on my wrists. They seemed to grow as I did and I never found myself able to take them off. The year I turned three and was at the 'Fighting Age' they appeared in front of me and explained the whole thing. Apparently they're part of my soul just like a zanpakuto is to a Soul Reaper. From then on I was able to summon them whenever I wanted." My tone darkened at the thoughts of my childhood. "I was foolish back then. They were merely pets back then even though I knew of their power, of _my_ power. And because of that I lost them, I was weak." My voice wavered at the end.

I heard Toshiro jump to the floor. "I won't push you to say more. Can I ask you another question?"

I nodded happy to get off the topic of my family. "How did you know there was a Hollow before my phone detected it?"

"Oh, good that's an easy one. I'm a Animal Divide remember? I smell them. Nasty smelly things too. Be lucky you don't have my nose."

"Huh," was his brilliant response.

I heard his footsteps as he walked towards the door. "I'm going to bed. Good night Memori."

After he closed the door I muttered dryly, "Not likely."

Refreshed, I stepped out of the shower thirty minuets after Toshiro left. I reached for my clothes on the sink counter but only felt the cold marble. Crap.

I forgot to get my stinkin' clothes! Great, just great. It's not all that bad though. I can just wrap myself up in a towel and go into my brothers room... Dammit! I put Toshiro in my brothers room! Why did I have to develop the habit of wearing my brother shirts to sleep.

I really need to start thinking things through.

I sighed and grabbed the biggest towel to wrap around me. I cracked the door open just enough to see if anyone was awake. When I saw nothing I carefully stepped out and tiptoed to my brother's room.

When I peeked into the room I saw Toshiro's sleeping form on the bed and Ace and Nyla curled up beside him.

_Traitors_, I thought.

I opened the door just enough for me to squeeze through and then closed it behind me, turning the knob to prevent any noise. I began tiptoeing again as I crossed the room to my brother dresser. When I was reaching for the knob to a drawer a voice interrupted my movement.

"Why are you in my room and more importantly why are you only in a towel?" he spoke sleepily.

I mentally slapped myself, with my luck I should have expected that. I turned around and nearly dropped my towel. God, Toshiro with bedhead was _so_ sexy.

He noticed my staring and raised an eyebrow. I shook my head to remove the thoughts. "Ha ha. Um, I forgot pajamas and I usually just sleep in my brothers shirts cause there so big and comfy and I didn't think you'd be awake so I decide to come in here and get one, and... yeah," I rambled.

He gave a tired sigh and lay back down in the bed. He turned his back to me and mumbled tiredly, "Fine, but hurry up. I'm tired."

I fought the urge to yelled that this was my house and instead opened the drawer and pulled out one of my favorite shirts. I made my way quickly to the door and sprinted to my room.

I slammed the door shut, not caring if I woke Toshiro. I took in my room and for the first time I realized how bare it was. The walls were a pale violet with a white carpet on the floor. All of my dressers and bookshelves were black and my bed was a pretty green color that looked like it had a bit of blue mixed into it. But my walls were empty. There were no posters of boy bands or actors. No painting that I found interesting framed on the wall or any pictures of loved ones. The only creative thing were the animal patterns that framed the walls.

I sigh and pulled on my brother big tee and some fresh underwear. The good part about my brother shirts was that they reached my mid-thigh so it was the same as wearing a nightgown. I rubbed my eyes as I made my way over to my bed and plopped down on it tiredly. I pulled my covers over my body and prepared for the nightmare to come.

* * *

><p><strong>Hitsugaya Toshiro<strong>

My eyes shot open at the sound of a scream and I instantly ran towards Memori's room. "Memori!" I yelled as I shoved the door open expecting a Hollow or something.

But there was nothing. Just Memori in her bed writhing as if in pain with tears streaming down her cheeks. She let out another piercing scream that caused me to flinch. That's when I remembered what she said.

_"I have these dreams, nightmares, that make me scream. Almost every night I have them and it's the same one. I guess it'd have to be, seeing that it's a memory, but the effects never change."_

So that's what she meant. Another scream pulled me away from my thought and I rushed forwards to her.

She continued to writhe and cry from the nightmare she was in. "Memori," I whispered. I placed a hand tenderly on her forehead and to my surprise, she calmed down. Her cries turned into whimpers and she stopped moving and her breath came slower, more even.

Her eyelids fluttered open to reveal bloodshot eyes. Tears began to pour over as she pulled me into a hug. I shook the shock off and hesitantly wrapped my arms around her. I felt her body shake from silent sobs. I heard her whispering something incoherent so I listened closer.

"Thank you," she was saying over and over again.

_Thank you?_ I pulled her away from me to look her in the eyes. She gave me a small smile but then gained the expression of shock and scooted away from me.

"Sorry! Sorry! I don't know... I just...," she stopped talking and looked at the covers. She picked them up in her hands but gasped when the fabric touched her palms. She lifted her hands to her face and cussed.

"What's wrong?" I ask, worried that she was hurt.

She gave a a small, sad smile. "Nothing that hasn't happened before," she said as she held out her palms for me to see. It was covered in blood and when I peered closer I saw four nail marks that ran across the center of her palm.

"Your hurt," I said a bit shocked that she had done this to herself in her sleep.

My mind acting on impulse I grabbed her hand and let my other hand hover over her palm. A blue light began to glow as I performed kido to heal up her scratches.

While mending them up I asked, "You said 'Thank you' to me. Why?" I looked into her eyes to see them darken to a blue the shade of the sea during a storm.

"You stopped my dream. Usually it replays in my head until I wake up but this time it froze," she said weakly.

"How do you know I did it?" I asked as I looked back down at her hand.

She shrugged, "Two reasons. One is that the dream, or memory _froze _and than everything seemed to darken with different shades of blues. Isn't your zanpakuto an ice type?" I gasped and looked up at her. She nodded. "Yeah, surprised me too. Second, I heard you say my name and felt something cold touch my forehead. Only now do I know it was you."

Her hand now had barely any signs that those cuts were previously there. I let go and she pulled it in to examine it. She stretched her hand out and and smiled, "Thank you. Usually I have to let it heal naturally and it scars."

I simply stared at her as she continued to look at her hand. "Your welcome," I said almost as if I was in a trance. I looked at the window and saw that the moon was only just reaching it's peak. I got out of her bed and turned to walk back to my room. "Well if your okay. I'm going to go back to sleep."

I took a step forward and froze in surprise when I felt her hand grab my wrist. I wasn't surprised that she had grabbed my wrist though. I was surprised that she didn't immediately let go. People are usually scared by how cold I am, the down side to having an ice type.

I turned back to her and instantly understood what Ace had meant. She looked so weak, almost as if I touched her she would shatter.

"No," she whispered, "I don't want to have the nightmare again tonight." she looked away and wiped her eyes with the back of her hand, hiding the tears. "Could - could you stay with me tonight? Please?" her voice wavered and I knew she was using all her might not to break down and cry.

Even I couldn't say no when I looked into her eyes. "Okay," I said.

Her head snapped towards me, "What?"

I rolled my eyes, "I said okay. It's not like I can leave you after seeing what you just went through." After that I climbed onto the bed with her and turned so my back was facing her. "Now get some sleep. I'm tired."

"Thank you," she whispered once more before we were engulfed in silence. I felt the bed move from her shifting as if she was debating something. When I felt one of her fingers brush my arm and then pull back I sighed.

I turned to face her and saw the she had crossed her arms across her chest and turned away from me, as if she was trying not to touch me.

_Had she been trying to hug me or something?_, I asked myself. I found the idea ridiculous and shook off the image of some girl like Memori wanting to touch a cold guy like me.

_Don't shake off the idea when you know your right boy,_ I heard Hyorimaru say to me. _You feel uncomfortable because you've never felt this way towards another girl._

_I don't know what your talking about. Felt in what way?,_ I asked him, not understanding what he could mean.

_Feel love for or the need to protect her,_ came his reply.

_I love Hinamori and want to protect her,_ I retorted.

_Yes but it's not the same with this girl. Hinamori is like a sister to you, not a lover. But this girl, you can't deny you don't see yourself in her_, gosh I hated how smart he could sound.

_Don't ignore it. Look at her. She has nightmares that she sees every night. Just like before you became a Soul Reaper and you saw me. That scared you and even let you to freeze your grandmother. And you remember what Ace said. She didn't have friends. People fear her and shy away from her presence. Remind you of anyone?_

I started to get angry with him. _Why are we even having this conversation in the first place_, I snapped.

_Did you ever feel like you need someone to hug when you were alone?_, was the last thing Hyorimaru said before he went silent.

The question caught me off guard. Did I?

I sighed knowing that it was pointless to argue with him about myself. I wrapped my arms around her and pulled Memori into me, positive she would turn scared and pull away. But she didn't.

The only sign she showed was her freezing from shock and then snuggled into me.

"You're so warm," was what she said before she fell asleep.

I woke up to the smell of strawberries and other fruits. I sat up in bed as last night memories flooded me. I looked next to me and saw that Memori wasn't in bed. How did she escape without me noticing?

I lazily got out of bed and dragged my feet towards the smell. My stomach growled and I remembered that I didn't eat dinner last night. Now hungry I ran down stair and into the kitchen. What I saw was very strange.

The kitchen was in complete disarray and there was cooking ingredients everywhere. Memori was dancing along to the radio and flinging a pan around that had a tanish colored mixture in it. I couldn't help but notice the fact that she was in just a white T-shirt and that every time she moved her hip it would flow with her and reveal her perfect legs. I looked away with a slight blush.

"Do you normally act this way?" I finally spoke and watched as she froze and slowly turned to look at me. After a moment of silence she screamed and toppled over backward.

She popped back up and scratched her arm, "Ehe hehe. No. I just..." she stopped scratching and looked me directly in the eye. "I just wanted to thank you."

She turned back around and placed the pan on the stove. She began talking again, "For the first time since I was six I was finally able to sleep without the fear of having another nightmare."

Since she was six? That was ten years ago. Does that mean that what ever happened to her family happened when she was six? That must have been a heavy burden for her at that age.

When she turned around she had a plate stacked high with discs. "You like pancakes right?" she asked with a big smile.

Pancakes? I guess that's what those discs are. "I've never had pancakes," I stated feeling a bit dumb.

She nearly dropped the plate from the shock my words created. "What!" she screamed placing the plate down on the table. "Sit down right now!" she ordered. When I just looked at her she added, "Please?"

I sighed and pulled out the chair to sit. She placed a plate down in front of me and then three others. I looked at her, "Who are the other two plates for?"

She laughed. "Why Ace and Nyla of course," she said as if I was stupid.

As if on cue Ace and Nyla both strolled in and sat at the table like regular humans. Memori gave them three pancakes and gave me two. Then she took her seat and placed six on her plate. She picked up a vase and poured "maple syrup" (as it said on the lable) on then, and gave some to Ace and Nyla as well.

She looked at me. "Pour some of this on them. It'll make them taste better." she said handing it to me.

I took it and eyed the brown liquid. With a shrug I poured a bit of it on my pancakes. Next Memori passed out fruit to herself and her dogs before handing it to me. Luckily I knew what all of them were so I happily added them to my plate.

"Ace! Nyla!" Memori suddenly screamed. I looked up from my plate to see both of the dogs with the mouths open about to devour their meal. "Where are your manners! Once Toshiro has tried his pancakes then you can eat!"

Memori looked at me with sparkles in her eyes while Ace and Nyla's ears flopped down and rolled their eyes over to me.

With a sigh I cut off a piece of pancake and took a cautious bite. Instantly Ace and Nyla dug into their meals while Memori kept staring at me while I chewed. If was fluffy and had a rich, creamy filling type... thing.

I swallow and looked closer at the pancake. It had brown dots lining it and where I had cut the brown flowed onto my plate. I felt a bit sickened so I looked up and asked, "What's the brown stuff in it?"

Ace and Nyla froze and all three of them collapsed. All of there heads popped back up and their eyes filled with disbelief. "You've never had chocolate?" Memori gasped.

"Uh, no?" I stuttered.

She slammed her hands down on the table, "Don't answer me with a question! What kind of place is the Soul Society? They don't have frickin' chocolate!" After her outburst she calmed down and began to eat her pancakes.

"The brown is chocolate. You think Matsumoto would teach you these thing," she mumbled. She brightened up at something, "So! Do you like the pancakes?"

Puzzled, I looked back down at them and took another bite. Now that I payed attention to it, they actually were pretty good. "Uh, yeah. Surprisingly, I do."

Memori let out a squeal and began to devour her plate. To be honest, the way she eats doesn't compare to any guy I've ever seen. She easily gulped down the six pancakes and took another six from the stack in the center of the table.

Nyla growled, _Memori, where are _your_ manners?_

Memori looked up from her plate to glare at her. Then she straightened up and patted a napkin over her mouth. "Well for one. _I_ never had them in the first place but I thought I raise you two better."

Ace let out a huff and rolled his eyes. _Lay off Nyla. You know how Mori gets when you distract her from her food._

"Wait, wait, wait," I interrupted. They all turned from their argument to look at me. I swallowed and smiled, "I mean, how come both Memori and I can her your thoughts and not just one of us?"

Ace criss-crossed both of his paws on the table and rested his head on them. _You ask too many __questions for you own good boy_, Ace said bored.

Memori rolled up the newspaper and whacked him on the head with it. "Ace! Manners!" she yelled. She turned to me with a small grin, "To prevent other questions, I'm just going to explain the whole 'thought' concept to you. The first thing about thoughts is that there are those which everyone can hear, thoughts that only people you want to hear can hear, and thoughts that only you can hear. Thoughts that everyone can hear are the ones that Ace and Nyla just had. It's the same as talking but without using your mouth. Thoughts that only people you want to hear can hear are the conversations that you've had with Ace and Nyla. It's like a secret conversation between two people or more depending on how many people you want to hear. Thoughts that only you can hear are just the same as everyday thoughts. Like a conversation with yourself. You have to be careful though because sometimes without knowing it, thoughts that no one else are suppose to hear turns aloud. That's how I knew that you wanted to see my powers. You might have only been thinking to yourself but I was able to hear it without searching you head."

Searching my head? "Does that mean that you can read thoughts even if they're not... thought aloud, I guess you'd call it?" I asked.

She nodded. "Yes, I can but I don't enjoy going into peoples heads unless it's required," she explained before digging into her pancakes.

After we finished eating and Memori cleaned up she stood right in front of me with her arms crossed and a evil smirk on her face. "Guess what we're doing today?" she asked with a evil glint in her eye.

I took a cautious step back and said, "No."

The evil presence disappeared and was replaced with a background of rainbows and hearts, "We're going shopping!" she squealed.

Ah, crap. I tried to reason with her. "I thought you weren't the type to shop," I challenged raising my eyebrows.

She stopped her squealing and looked at her nail in a bored fashion. "I usually do because I normally go with Inoue or Rukia and they drag me into the girly stores to buy stuff like," she shuddered, "skirts and dresses. But now I have an excuse to shop in the guy department. You." she pointed at me while smirking.

"But I can just wear your brothers clothes," I countered.

Her smirk disappeared and her eyebrows knitted together in thought. She snapped her fingers together and the smirk came back. "My brother wore those clothes when he was even taller than Ichigo. Seeing that your shorter that him there's no way they'll fit."

I sighed admitting defeat and went to go change for the mall.

* * *

><p><strong>Zenshin Memori<strong>

I take in the smell of them mall with one big sniff through my nose and exhale it in an exaggerated breath. I place my hands on my hips and a large grin crept its way onto my face. I turned to Toshiro to see him sulking about me dragging him here. "Oh, perk up Toshiro. I'm paying," I said my face dropping a bit. "Plus," I added, "I don't shop like Matsumoto."

He perked up at that and slid his eyes over to meet mine. "How do you know how Matsumoto shops?" he questioned raising an eyebrow.

"Well," I said drawing out the word. "How does she shop?"

Toshiro sighed and stuffed his hands into his pockets. "She usually runs into a bunch of girly shops and has me carry the bags. When ever we go into guy stores she makes me try on a bunch of stupid outfits," he muttered with a slight grimace on his face.

I just laughed. "That's reminds me of my mom..." my voice trailed off as I remembered the time we had gone shopping before... she left me.

Toshiro seemed to see because he faced me head on and said, "Which store?"

I immediately brightened up and grabbed his hand, startling him. I dragged him away to the guy section to begin our dissection of the clothing.

"Eh, Toshiro-kun? What about this," I said mindlessly as I pulled out a shirt for him to wear. It seemed like his type of clothing. It was a black T-shirt with light blue designs covering the bottom right corner that resembled a dragon.

When he turned he didn't look at the shirt but at me. He stared at me not speaking. "What?" I asked tilting my head to the side.

"You called me Toshiro-kun," he mumbled as if that was the weirdest thing in the world.

To me it was though. I hadn't said anyone's name with that suffix ever since my brother left me. "I uh," I stuttered, turning away blushing and shove the shirt towards him. "Sorry! It slipped. Try this on," I apologized then tried to change the subject.

I felt the shirt get pulled from my hands and occupied myself with looking through more outfits. I sighed, glad that he had dropped the topic. I honestly don't know why I called him that. Usually I just call him Toshiro so what was with the -kun?

I shook my head in confusion and placed my forehead on the cold metal rack. What was happening to me?

"Why are you apologizing for calling me that, Mori-chan?" Toshiro's voice rang from behind me. Startled, my hands clenched the rack and crunched it under my grip. Ugh, why wasn't I smart enough to check and see if he had gone to change before I acted all depressed.

I turned to face him and saw that he had, in fact, changed. The black shirt, of course, fit perfectly and made his turquoise eyes seem to shine. That's when I noticed something else.

"You called me Mori-chan," I said in a state of shock.

"Well of course," Toshiro began, turning back to the clothing. "You called me Toshiro-kun so I'll call you Mori-chan," he reasoned.

For some reason the thought made my heart warm and I grew happy again. "Okay," I said as we dug back into the racks of clothing.

After a few hours we had bought a few things for both of us and decided we should go get something to eat. Of course, me being me, I suggested getting cinnamon and sugar pretzels while Toshiro just wanted ice cream.

We found a empty table and sat down for a rest. While Toshiro was eating his ice cream though, I notice how good it looked. He seemed to notice my staring because he rolled his eyes and handed a spoon full of it to me. I smiled at him and ate it happily. I was right, it taste pretty good.

"You know. You eat a lot for a girl," Toshiro pointed out.

I laughed, "Yeah, I get that a lot. When you grow up living with two wolves you tend to develop their habits."

"No kidding," Toshiro said jokingly with a smirk.

"Hey!" I said as I punched him on the arm from across the table. "You know, I could make a lot of comments how sometimes you remind me of a old man but you don't see me talking," I muttered crossing my arms with a pout.

What surprised me was when he actually laughed.

"What?" I whined glaring at him but soon found myself laughing along even though I had no clue why.

"It's just that usually people compare me to a little kid and not a old man," Toshiro stated chuckling.

It sounded so foreign, his laugh. Yet it seemed to make my heart swell and my head swim. As I watched his chuckles die down he opened his eyes and looked at me questioningly. "What?" he asked.

I shook my head, aware of the smile that was hurting my cheeks. "Nothing. It's just that you should laugh more. You have a nice laugh," I told him.

He seemed shocked by my words and smiled. His smile was incredible. Although it was small it made my knees grow weak. I gave a small giggle. "You have a nice smile to. Probably cause I rarely see it. You too serious Toshiro-kun," I smiled at the feel of saying his name on my tongue. "Learn to let go more," I said taking a bite of my pretzel.

Toshiro sighed and said wearily, "When your a captain it's hard to let go. Between paper work and fighting Hollows I don't get that much free time."

His eyes seemed to turn tired just at the thought. I smiled and nudged his arm. "Well," I began, "now your living with me so don't be so uptight. Plus there have been relatively less Hollows here than normal. Your going to suck at the job I got you if your so tense."

Toshiro merely rolled his eyes and took a bite of his ice cream.

It was peaceful until, "Toshiro-kun!" was screamed from across the food court. Toshiro and I both froze mid-bite and turned towards the voice.

"It can't be...," I muttered eyes wide.

Toshiro narrowed his eyes, "Keigo." He turned towards me, "Run!"

That's all it took for both of us to be sprinting through the mall with our bag dangling from our arms and half of my pretzel dangling from my mouth. Most people stared at us as we rushed through the mall but all I could think of was that I didn't want to have to talk to Keigo. Apparently Toshiro was thinking the same thing.

We were almost clear when I heard, "Toshiro-kun! You forgot you ice cream!" causing me to loose my footing.

I stumbled forward and Toshiro, who was behind me, crashed into me, making us tumble to the ground. I closed my eyes as we fell and gasped when I felt my back strike the ground, knocking the air out of me.

When I cracked my eyes open my breath hitched in my throat when I saw a vibrant turquoise. Toshiro had no better reactions because he simply stared right back in shock.

"Um, fancy meeting you here," I said trying to remove the awkward atmosphere around us.

My voice seemed to pull him out of his daze and he started to mutter out an apology and prop himself up on his hands.

"Toshiro-kun! Your ice cream!" was heard from above Toshiro and I suddenly felt an even great amount of weight on my stomach. Toshiro was forced back down on me and I saw him wince from the weight on his back. I closed my eyes and gathered as much air in my lungs to scream my heart out at Keigo.

"Kei-" I began to say but was cut off when something hit my lips. My eyes shot open in shock and found that it was Toshiro's lips that were on mine. We both went rigid and did nothing but stare into each others eyes in pure horror. Some part of me though, yearned for the kiss to be real and not just something Keigo had caused.

We would have stayed like that forever but someone's voice spoke up, "Keigo! Leave the two love birds alone!"

I felt Keigo's weight get lifted from on top of me and Toshiro wasted no time getting off me as well. I took a deep breath of air, happy to be able to breath again. Then I sat strait up to glare at Ichigo who was holding Keigo above the ground. "What do you mean 'love birds'," I questioned him, narrowing my eyes.

Rukia stepped out from behind Ichigo with a camera in hand. "Do I need to show you the proof?" she taunted raising the camera.

"I have nothing to be ashamed of," I said looking away and crossing my arms. "That kiss was all Toshiro."

I heard a gasp from behind me and turn to see Toshiro glaring at me. "Excuse me?" Toshiro said not breaking my gaze.

I turned my back to him. "If you had been more athletic you could have stopped me from falling so that we could have kept running, but no. You just had to fall on top of me and have that gay catch us."

"You know you liked it," Toshiro said smugly from behind me. I froze and turned back to face him.

"See, this is why I hate Soul Reapers. Your all so damn cocky!" I screamed and ran.


End file.
